Prepositions in Spanish
- Preposiciones en español
Prepositions are a group of “small” words that are very frequently used.
They have a very important function: to relate words. They are a little difficult to use because their meaning depends on those other words and the sentence.
Therefore, the best way to understand its specific meaning is in a specific context.
Prepositions never change gender or number: they do not have masculine or feminine forms, neither singular nor plural.
There are 23 prepositions in Spanish:a, ante, bajo, cabe, con, contra, de, desde, durante, en, entre, hacia, hasta, mediante, para, por, según, sin, so, sobre, tras, versus and vía.
Currently, “cabe” (which means ‘next to’) and “so” (‘under’) have little use or are not recommended.
Types of prepositions
Depending on what the prepositions express, they can be classified into several types. Let's look at some of them:
Origin, direction, destination, limit
“De” indicates the origin:
Yo soy de México - I'm from Mexico
The preposition “desde” indicates the starting point of a journey or a point of reference.
El avión va desde Lisboa hasta París. - The plane goes from Lisbon to Paris.
The prepositions “a” and “para” indicate the direction of a path.
Vamos a casa - We are going home
Vamos para casa - We are going home
The preposition “a” also indicates the destination.
Llegó a Córdoba. - He arrived in Cordoba
The preposition “hasta” indicates the final point of a journey.
“Hacia” denotes the direction of a movement, trend, or attitude.
Fue hacia el despacho del jefe. - She went to the boss's office.
Su amor hacia él fue incondicional. - Her love for him was unconditional.
Contractions
The preposition a is contracted with the article el, forming “al”.
Fuimos juntos al colegio. - We went to school together.
A + EL = AL
The preposition de is contracted with the article el to form "del".
Juan es el más alto del equipo. - Juan is the tallest on the team.
DE + EL = DEL
Company
The preposition “con” is used to mean “together and in company”
¡Me gusta celebrar el cumpleaños con mis amigos! - I like celebrating birthdays with my friends!
Manuel salió con sus amigos. - Manuel went out with his friends.
Me voy de vacaciones con mi familia. - I'm going on vacation with my family.
Me gusta tomar el café con leche. - I like to drink coffee with milk.
Simultaneity
The preposition “durante” means “at the same time”. Expresses simultaneity. It can only be followed by nouns.
El evento se realizó durante el verano. - The event took place during the summer.
Durante mi paso por el colegio, yo fui una buena estudiante. - I was a good student during my time at school.
No habló conmigo durante mucho tiempo. - He didn't talk to me for a long time.
Comió mucho durante la fiesta. - He ate a lot during the party.
Lack
The preposition "sin" denotes deprivation or lack of something.
No podremos ir muy lejos sin dinero. - We can't go very far without money.
No puedes salir a la calle sin documentos. - You can't go out without documents.
La vida es más fácil sin problemas. - Life is easier without problems.
Prefiero beber leche sin lactosa. - I prefer to drink lactose-free milk.
Material
We use the preposition “de” to refer to the material something is made of. For example:
El espejo es de vidrio. - The mirror is made of glass.
Me compré una blusa de seda. - I bought a silk blouse.
La pelota roja es de plástico. - The red ball is made of plastic.
Vivo en una casa de ladrillo. - I live in a brick house.
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